Talk:Rare and Endangered Government Publications

Topics for Discussion

1. Virtual membership (this issue was raised at our meeting during Annual and most "nonvirtual" members seemed to feel warmly about the idea, but I'd like to get some more specific plans on the table before Midwinter. HogenboomUIUC 19:23, 4 November 2007 (CST)).

Please comment before Thanksgiving, 11/22.

a. What are the advantages and disadvantages to the committee of having virtual members?

1. Lazy bums who will not travel should not be warmly welcomed onto committees!
2. I would rather not "have" to attend ALA, so I volunteer to be virtual!

We might very well get more public & other librarians who can’t afford & whose institution will not support travel. I see this as opening up our membership base.

These virtual folks might not be able to afford to go to conferences but could afford membership so perhaps this will increase our membership.

In this day & age with all the available technology there would probably be some technology that those folks could virtually meet with us; but how expensive would this equipment be as I know GODORT is trying not to rent equipment at conferences to cut cost.

With more work done not at conferences, perhaps free the rest of us up to attend other, non-GODORT meetings at conferences.

Capture the young folks who are attracted to all these virtual venues. Keep up with the times as an organization.

Even with all the available technology, I think something is missed without face to face interaction. Will the virtual folks be less committed to the work of GODORT?

Would we in some manner be creating 1st & 2nd class members based on conference attendance?

Over time, would we end up with no one going to conferences? & what would this do to ALA conference revenue? GODORT & ALA might want to have some ratio of virtual to non-virtual membership. But how would this be chosen---by each member? (Linda Johnson)

b. What would be the advantages and disadvantages to virtual members of being on the committee but not attending meetings?

1. I could read email and edit wikis from the comfort of my office.
2. Little real-time contribution would be made.

c. How could virtual members participate in some of the projects that REGP is working on, or how could they have participated in recent projects that have been completed?

1. Barely.
2. At their leisure.

2. As we decided at Annual, please list all the commercial microform and digital projects you are aware of covering federal publications during the period 1932-1962. Note the vendor and whether the project is microform or digital. If you know that the project only covers part of the time period of interest, please note the dates. And if you're really ambitious, add a URL for the project and a SuDoc number, if applicable.

Please comment before December 31 so Rebecca and Yan will have a little time to compile this information.

3. Also as a follow-up from Annual, please link to any web sites or list bibliographic information for printed sources that provide practical guidance on techniques for evaluating brittleness and other indicators of physical condition of paper materials.
(Linda Johnson---this is from our university/library Archivist who found this after I had no luck with searching)I think the scarcity of information about brittle books comes down to the principle of "you know it when you see it." One resource suggests the double-fold test to determine brittleness, but more preservationists have come out against this test since it is a very damaging test (if it's brittle, the paper will break and there are other indicators for determining brittleness).

I included a link to a library student training manual because I felt it was useful in general about care and handling.

I would not characterize my search as exhaustive but I did look into some dark corners if that is a helpful description. There may be information about brittleness in books on reformatting; again, there is an assumption in reformatting materials that you know when you see it. (Actually, I can feel it -- the acid in deteriorating paper burns my fingers a little.)